Last year director Garry Marshall hit upon a devilishly canny approach to the romantic comedy. A more polished refinement of Hal Needham’s experimental Cannonball Run method it called for assembling a gaggle of famous faces from across the demographic spectrum and pairing them with a shallow day-in-the-life narrative packed with gobs of gooey sentiment. A cynical strategy to be sure but one that paid handsome dividends: Valentine’s Day earned over $56 million in its opening weekend surpassing even the rosiest of forecasts. Buoyed by the success Marshall and his screenwriter Katherine Fugate hastily retreated to the bowels of Hades to apply their lucrative formula to another holiday historically steeped in romantic significance and New Year’s Eve was born.
Set in Manhattan on the last day of the year New Year’s Eve crams together a dozen or so canned scenarios into one bloated barely coherent mass of cliches. As before Marshall’s recruited an impressive ensemble of minions to do his unholy bidding including Oscar winners Hilary Swank Halle Berry and Robert De Niro the latter luxuriating in a role that didn’t require him to get out of bed. High School Musical’s Zac Efron is paired up with ‘80s icon Michelle Pfeiffer – giving teenage girls and their fathers something to bond over – while Glee’s Lea Michele meets cute with a pajama-clad Ashton Kutcher. There’s Katherine Heigl in a familiar jilted-fiance role Sarah Jessica Parker as a fretful single mom and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges as the most laid-back cop in New York. Sofia Vergara and Hector Elizondo mine for cheap laughs with thick accents – his fake and hers real – and Jessica Biel and Josh Duhamel deftly mix beauty with blandness. Fans of awful music will delight in the sounds of Jon Bon Jovi straining against type to play a relevant pop musician.
The task of interweaving the various storylines is too great for Marshall and New Year’s Eve bears the distinct scent and stain of an editing-room bloodbath with plot holes so gaping that not even the brightest of celebrity smiles can obscure them. But that’s not the point – it never was. You should know better than to expect logic from a film that portrays 24-year-old Efron and 46-year-old Parker as brother-and-sister without bothering to explain how such an apparent scientific miracle might have come to pass. Marshall wagers that by the time the ball drops and the film’s last melodramatic sequence has ended prior transgressions will be absolved and moviegoers will be content to bask in New Year's Eve's artificial glow. The gambit worked for Valentine's Day; this time he may not be so fortunate.

S2E11: Like a lot of shows, Hawaii Five-0 was on a post-Thanksgiving break last week, but it returned tonight -- in a big way.
The episode kicks off with a school bus full of children and a few adult chaperones, which is ominous since we know they're gonna be involved in this episode's crime, but it's also always safe to assume that a network TV show isn't going to let any children characters die! (At least not violently.)
But I digress ...
Five-0, fresh off a pat-on-the-back press conference with the governor after they intercepted and seized $80 million in cocaine that was being smuggled into Honolulu, is immediately called to save the schoolchildren who, by the way, have been kidnapped by a pair of gun-wielding maniacs who just so happen to be requesting the swift return of said seized cocaine in two hours' time, or the kids get it.
At first, it seems that there are no leads. The man they have in custody from the coke deal, who goes by the last name Vargas, claims to know nothing other than the name of the drug cartel's head honcho: Hugo Castillo.
Meanwhile, as the clock ticks (very slowly, quite conveniently), McGarrett know that the kidnappers, having demanded the return of the cocaine, are not in it for a hefty ransom or anything of the sort. It leaves the governor no other choice than to essentially meet their demands and drop off the coke in exchange for the kids, but it backfires, quite literally: Upon dropping off the drugs, McGarrett barely escapes an explosion in the van in which they are left. It's a setup!
Back to Square One. Only, not really ...
When word gets out that one of the kids on the bus, Jason Schaffer, recognized one of the hijackers as an acquaintance of his father's, they at least know who to seek out. Turns out, the elder Schaffer was essentially this Hugo Castillo guy's "landlord" and days earlier ratted out the smuggling attempt, sabotaging the whole operation and leading Castillo to seek revenge -- AND the drugs. Greedy!
Unfortunately, Schaffer has decided to try and take matters into his own hands and end the kidnapping without police assistance, per the kidnappers' orders, which is why Five-0 can't seem to find him when they need to most. It leads to the typical shootout climax and, naturally, the just-in-the-nick-of-time rescue of the children (they were about to be buried alive!).
It doesn't quite end there, though: After everyone is safe and sound, the elder Schaffer is escorted by Five-0 back to headquarters, where he spots a recently exonerated Hugo Castillo, who Steve and Danny previously knew as Vargas.
But wait, there's more: Joe White, who was discharged by the Navy following his dangerous actions in Korea in the previous episode, embarks on a vigilante manhunt of his own for whatever "Shelburne" is and discovers that it "is not a thing or a place; it's a person" -- more specifically, the only person Wo Fat fears.
TOP FIVE MOMENTS FROM TONIGHT'S EPISODE
1. Opening sequence: When the driver of a school bus full of kids gets out to investigate what seems to be a bad car accident, one of those involved pulls a gun out, shoots him and heads toward the waiting, screaming bus. And cut to the opening credits!
2. When asked for proof by McGarrett that the kids are OK, the kidnapper orders one of the adult chaperones off the bus and promptly shoots him in the thigh – with Five-0 watching as well as the kids on the bus, who immediately start shrieking in unison. It’s a rather chilling, real-looking scene for a show that’s usually more cinematic.
3. It becomes all too clear to the viewer long before it actually happens, but the setup and execution for the scene in which Steve drops off the drugs and narrowly escapes the resulting explosion is pretty exciting.
4. This quote from an incredulous Danny to the seemingly unimportant Vargas (aka Castillo, as we soon learn) after the drug-explosion setup: “Listen to me, nobody blows $80 million worth of cocaine to save the schmuck that sits in the back of the van.”
5. The climactic “rescue” scene, featuring the usual shootout and chases, but this time Lori finds herself in grave danger – that is, before McGarrett and his gun come to her aid at the last second.

The other day, we got a look at the list of competitors in the upcoming Sundance Film Festival. But we've also got ourselves a fair share of promising premieres, with a slew of stars and directors alike that we're sure to get excited over.
Some of the big names we'll be seeing at this year's Sundance include Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Olivia Wilde and Jeremy Irons in The Words, Bruce Willis and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Lay the Favorite, Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan and Adam Scott in Bachelorette, Julie Delpy and Chris Rock in the Delpy-directed 2 Days in New York, Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg and Elijah Wood in Celeste and Jesse Forever (co-written by Jones) and Josh Radnor, starring against Elizabeth Olsen, in Liberal Arts, which he wrote and directed.
PREMIERES
2 Days in New York / France (Director: Julie Delpy, Screenwriters: Julie Delpy, Alexia Landeau) — Marion has broken up with Jack and now lives in New York with their child. A visit from her family, the different cultural background of her new boyfriend, her sister’s ex-boyfriend, and her upcoming photo exhibition make for an explosive mix. Cast: Julie Delpy, Chris Rock, Albert Delpy, Alexia Landeau, Alex Nahon.
Arbitrage / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Nicholas Jarecki) — A hedge-fund magnate is in over his head, desperately trying to complete the sale of his trading empire before the depths of his fraud are revealed. An unexpected, bloody error forces him to turn to the most unlikely corner for help. Cast: Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Tim Roth, Brit Marling, Laetitia Casta.
Bachelorette / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Leslye Headland) — Unresolved issues between four high school friends come roaring back to life when the least popular of them gets engaged to one of the most eligible bachelors in New York City and asks the others to be bridesmaids in her wedding. Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan, James Marsden, Adam Scott, Kyle Bornheimer.
Celeste and Jesse Forever / U.S.A. (Director: Lee Toland Krieger, Screenwriters: Rashida Jones, Will McCormack) — Celeste and Jesse met in high school, married young, and at 30, decide to get divorced but remain best friends while pursuing other relationships. Cast: Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, Ari Graynor, Chris Messina, Elijah Wood, Emma Roberts.
For A Good Time, Call... / U.S.A. (Director: Jamie Travis, Screenwriters: Katie Anne Naylon &amp; Lauren Anne Miller) — Lauren and Katie move in together after a loss of a relationship and a loss of a rent controlled home, respectively. When Lauren learns what Katie does for a living the two enter into a wildly unconventional business venture. Cast: Ari Graynor, Lauren Anne Miller, Justin Long, Mark Webber, James Wolk.
GOATS / U.S.A. (Director: Christopher Neil, Screenwriter: Mark Jude Poirier) — Ellis leaves his unconventional desert home to attend the disciplined and structured Gates Academy. There, he re-connects with his estranged father and for the first time questions the family dynamics. Cast: David Duchovny, Vera Farmiga, Graham Phillips, Justin Kirk, Ty Burrell.
Lay The Favorite / U.S.A. (Director: Stephen Frears, Screenwriter: D.V. Devincintis) — An adventurous young woman gets involved with a group of geeky older men who have found a way to work the sportsbook system in Las Vegas to their advantage. Cast: Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Rebecca Hall.
Liberal Arts / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Josh Radnor) — When 30-something Jesse is invited back to his alma mater, he falls for a 19-year-old college student and is faced with the powerful attraction that springs up between them. Cast: Josh Radnor, Elizabeth Olsen, Richard Jenkins, Allison Janney, John Magaro, Elizabeth Reaser.
Price Check / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Walker) — Pete is having trouble resolving a happy marriage and family life with rising debt and a job he hates. When his new boss pulls him into the maelstrom that is her life, money and opportunities come his way, but at what price? Cast: Parker Posey, Eric Mabius, Annie Parisse, Josh Pais, Cheyenne Jackson.
Red Hook Summer / U.S.A. (Director: Spike Lee, Screenwriters: James McBride, Spike Lee) — A young Atlanta boy spends his summer in Brooklyn with his grandfather, who he's never seen before. Cast: Clark Peters, Jules Brown, Toni Lysaith, James Ransone, Thomas Jefferson Byrd.
Robot and Frank / U.S.A. (Director: Jake Schreier, Screenwriter: Christopher Ford) — A curmudgeonly older dad’s grown kids install a robot as his caretaker. Cast: Frank Langella, Susan Sarandon, James Marsden, Liv Tyler. SALT LAKE CITY GALA FILM
Shadow Dancer / United Kingdom (Director: James Marsh, Screenwriter: Tom Brady) — Widowed mother-turned-terrorist Colette McVeigh has high-ranking brothers in the IRA. When she’s arrested in an aborted bomb plot she must make hard choices, testing family loyalties. Cast: Andrea Riseborough, Aiden Gillen, Domhnall Gleeson, with Gillian Anderson and Clive Owen.
The Words / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Brian Klugman, Lee Sternthal) — Aspiring writer Rory Jansen finds another man's haunting memories in a collection of lost stories and claims them as his own, propelling him to literary stardom. Cast: Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Irons, Dennis Quaid, Olivia Wilde with Zoe Saldana. CLOSING NIGHT FILM
DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES
13 Notes: Paul Simon's Graceland Journey / U.S.A. (Director: Joe Berlinger) — Paul Simon returns to South Africa to explore the incredible journey of his historic Graceland album, including the political backlash he sparked for allegedly breaking the UN cultural boycott of South Africa, designed to end Apartheid.
About Face / U.S.A. (Director: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders) — An exploration of beauty and aging through the stories of the original supermodels. Participants including Isabella Rossellini, Christie Brinkley, Beverly Johnson, Carmen Dell'Orefice, Paulina Porizkova, Jerry Hall and Christy Turlington weigh in on the fashion industry and how they reassess and redefine their own sense of beauty as their careers progress.
A Fierce Green Fire / U.S.A. (Director: Mark Kitchell) — A definitive history of one of the most important movements of the 20th century, A Fierce Green Fire chronicles the environmental movement’s fascinating evolution from the 1960s to the present.
Bones Brigade / U.S.A. (Director: Stacy Peralta) — When six teenage boys came together as a skateboarding team in the 1980s, they reinvented not only their chosen sport but themselves too – as they evolved from insecure outsiders to the most influential athletes in the field.
The D Word: Understanding Dyslexia / U.S.A. (Director: James Redford) — While following a Dyslexic high school senior struggling to achieve his dream of getting into a competitive college, The D Word exposes myths about Dyslexia and reveals cutting edge research to elucidate this widely misunderstood condition.
Ethel / U.S.A. (Director: Rory Kennedy) — This intimate, surprising portrait of Ethel Kennedy provides an insider's view of a political dynasty, including Ethel’s life with Robert F. Kennedy and the years following his death when she raised their eleven children on her own.
Something From Nothing: The Art Of Rap / United Kingdom (Director: Ice-T, Co-Director: Andy Baybutt) — Through conversations with Rap’s most influential artists – among them Chuck D, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Eminem, MC Lyte, Mos Def, and Kanye West – Ice-T explores the roots and history of Rap and reveals the creative process behind this now dominant art form.
West of Memphis / U.S.A. (Director: Amy Berg) — Three teenage boys are incarcerated for the murders of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. 19 years later, new evidence calls into question the convictions and raises issues of judicial, prosecutorial and jury misconduct – showing that the first casualty of a corrupt justice system is the truth.
Source: Indiewire

Director Alexander Payne's (Election Sideways) new film opens over sprawling landscape shots of Hawaii's scenic suburbia accompanied by George Clooney's character Matt King summing up his current predicament: "Paradise can go fuck itself." The reaction unfortunately is reasonable.
We pick up with King an ancestor of Hawaiian royalty in the middle of deliberations over a plot of land handed down through his family over generations. With every uncle aunt and cosign whispering opinions into his ear King is suddenly presented with an even greater problem: taking care of his two daughters. A boating accident leaves his wife in a coma forcing Matt to take a true parenting role with his young socially-troubled daughter Scottie (Amara Miller) and his rebellious teen Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) who was previously shipped off to boarding school. Matt awkwardly hunts for the emotional glue necessary for the mismatched bunch to become "a family " but matters are made even more complicated when Alex reveals that her mother was cheating on him before the accident. Murphy's Law is in full effect.
With The Descendants Payne continues to explore and discover the inherent humor in life's melancholic situations unfolding Matt's quest for understanding like a road movie across Hawaii's many islands. Simultaneously preparing for the end of his wife's death and searching for the identity of her lover Matt crosses paths with a number of perfectly cast side characters who act as mirrors to his best and worst qualities: his father-in-law Scott (Robert Foster) who belittles Matt for never taking care of his daughter; Hugh (Beau Bridges) an opportunistic cousin who pressures Matt to sell the land; Alexandra's dunce of a boyfriend Sid (Nick Krause) who always has the wrong thing to say; and Julie (Judy Greer) the wife of the adulterer in question. Colorful yet real Matt experiences a definitive moment with each of them yet the picture never feels sporadic or episodic.
Clooney and Woodley help gel these sequences together as they observe experience and butt heads as equals. Clooney's own magnetism stands in the way of making Matt a fully dimensional character but he shines when playing off his quick-witted daughter. His reactions are heartbreaking—but it's the moments when he has to put himself out there that never quite ring true. But the script by Nat Faxon Jim Rash and Payne gives Clooney plenty of opportunities to work his magic visualizing his struggle as opposed to vomiting it out like so many of today's talky dramas.
The Descendants is a tender cinematic experience an introspective and heartwarming film unafraid to convey its story with pleasing simplicity. Clooney stands out with a solid performance but like many of Payne's films it's the eclectic ensemble and muted backdrop that give the movie its real texture. The paradise of Descendants isn't all its cracked up to be but for movie-goers it's bliss.

The actors, including Alex O'Loughlin, Scott Caan, Daniel Dae Kim and Masi Oka, will be among a group of volunteers who will help plant a garden at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii on Monday (14Nov11).
The American Heart Association Teaching Garden is designed to educate children about the importance of healthy habits and is part of Michelle Obama's Joining Forces initiative to support U.S. veterans through community service.
America's First Lady will give a talk at the base on Monday.

S2E6: Tonight's episode of Hawaii Five-0 kicks off with the most unexpected of scenes: McGarrett in the ring fighting against mixed martial arts legend Chuck Liddell. We don't find out until the end of the episode how that bout came to be. It's all about what happened 48 hours earlier ...
A beloved local restaurateur, Jake Griffin, is found dead, duct-taped to a chair at the bottom of a pool. As always, the Five-0 gang -- which once again includes Kono -- tries to track down the perps, and as always, they go looking in some of the wrong places before winding up in the right one.
Initially, their chief suspects are a group of valet drivers at one of the restaurants Griffin owned. It makes sense: Recent home invasions identical to the one that appears to have taken place at Griffin's house show the drivers making copies of the house keys that belong to the owners of the cars they're parking; Griffin's case looks to be similar.
But after apprehending three of the suspects mid-home invasion, McGarrett and Co. learn that although the valet drivers are bad guys indeed, they're not the bad guys they were looking for.
So it's onto suspect No. 2 (a while later): a brutish MMA fighter, Borero, who was mentored by the late Griffin and and who McGarrett thinks is in possession of the murder weapon, which is, after all, found in the front seat of his Jeep.
However, following a lengthy chase sequence, apprehension, and questioning, McGarrett and Danny discover with certainty that Borero had nothing but respect and admiration for Griffin -- not to mention an alibi. And upon further explanation by the fighter, they realize they've been barking up the wrong tree all along, as the murderer, it turns out, is Griffin's own brother-in-law, who "wanted a little something" (read: money) from his wealthy relative and murdered Griffin -- and made it look like the aforementioned recent string of home-invasion robberies/murders -- after his plan went awry. He submits to Five-0 without a fight, but not without tears of shame.
Which brings us to the opening fight scene with McGarrett and Chuck Liddell. Turns out McGarrett, ever the gentleman, was fighting for charity, in place of the injured Borero, who was supposed to be in the ring that day.
Naturally, though, the episode didn't end after the fight: Wo Fat strikes again, killing the elderly, wheelchail-bound Mikoto as a message to Joe and McGarrett. At which point Joe urges McGarrett yet again to really think about whether he wants to cotninue investigating his father's fateful meeting with Wo Fat and Governor Jameson.
TOP FIVE MOMENTS FROM TONIGHT'S EPISODE
1. McGarrett’s fight sequence with Liddell -- which opens the episode -- namely the point 10 seconds in when McGarrett gets the spit knocked out of him. In slo-mo.
2. The second, very early on, when we see special crossover guest star Kensi Blye (Daniela Ruah), from NCIS: LA. Didn't think we forgot about that, did you?! Sadly, her role spans no more than one scene and a few minutes.
3. When Joe walks into his apartment, the ominous music tells us something’s fishy. Which is further confirmed when we see a shadowy figure in front of the camera lens that turns out be Wo Fat. Tresspassing! What’s cool, though, is the fact that Joe keeps a gun in his freezer for just such an occasion.
4. The insane -- and slightly inane -- fight that ensues after No. 4. Which Joe narrowly survives, thanks to a knife-set block.
5. The rooftop-hopping chase scene between McGarrett and Borero -- and Danny, who couldn’t keep up on foot so took his car. It winds up in a surfboard warehouse, where McGarrett pins Borero MMA style.

Halloween kind of snuck up on us this year, but NBC's best comedies are well-prepared with episodes celebrating the holiday. We've got clips from next week's Community, Parks and Recreation and Whitney, each putting their own unique, dysfunctional spin on one of TV's favorite festivities.
After last week's jump back to into its beloved, unique style, we're all excited about Community once more. On next week's Halloween episode, Britta (Gillian Jacobs) makes a half-hearted attempt at an exciting pre-party—a notion which baffles Pierce (Chevy Chase), frustrates Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) and Annie (Alison Brie), and underwhelms Jeff (Joel McHale). However, Troy (Donald Glover) and Abed (Danny Pudi) are, of course, entrenched in the Halloween spirit, already dressed in their "pre-costume costumes."
Community's Halloween episode, "Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps," airs Thursday, Oct. 27, at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Halloween in Pawnee is something we should all experience once in our lives. Next week's episode of Parks and Recreation will showcase one of Andy's (Chris Pratt) and April's (Aubrey Plaza) unbeatable parties. Last time they threw one, there was an unexpected wedding. So, this time around, we're thinking...baby? Potential shocks aside, the Halloween spirit appears to be embraced by everyone in our favorite Indiana town...except Ben (Adam Scott), who isn't in much of a partying mood in the below clip. Leave it to Andy to try to cheer up his roommate.
Park's and Recreation's Halloween episode, "Meet 'n' Greet," airs Thursday, Oct. 27, at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT.
Halloween over on Whitney will be terrifying for a completely different reason. Friend and neighbor Mark (Dan O'Brien) has taken to peeping on Whitney (Whitney Cummings) and Alex (Chris D'Elia) using a spy camera. He may not have a lot of dignity, but as you can see in the below clip, he still clearly takes pride in trick or treating.
But the laughs (and terrors) don't end with Mark's creepiness. Whitney gets a little visit from a very recognizeable character from horror movie history, and he doesn't seem to be swayable with candy.
Whitney's Halloween episode, "The Wire," airs Thursday, Oct. 27, at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT.

S2E4: Tonight's episode of Hawaii Five-0 was all over the map, figuratively speaking -- as past issues return to the surface, albeit briefly, new ones are hinted at, and the team is forced to solve a doozy of a murder mystery that leads them in several different directions.
An unidentified hand turns up in the water, and Max soon IDs the apparent murder victim to whom it belonged: mercurial "salvage" diver Blake Spencer. Naturally, McGarrett and Co. still don't know what his backstory is, and they don't truly find out until the end of the episode.
After finding a set of what appear to be rare coins in Spencer's apartment that Five-0 thinks the diver found near a shipwreck, the first suspect becomes an opportunistic business owner who hired Spencer for a treasure-hunting job, with which the coins appear to have been associated. But the man, Jesse Billings, admits to only petty wrongdoings, and it is soon learned that the coins are, in fact, fake.
It leads to a series of more or less dead-end interrogations and tying up loose ends for McGarrett, Danno, Lori and Joe -- that is, until they're able to track down the boat on which Spencer was shot and killed and venture deep underwater to see what he was searching for.
It's not immediately clear -- even to us viewers -- but a skeleton that the gang finds near the water's floor is locked inside an ambulance that dates all the way back to World War II, and that's when everything begins to unravel: Spencer wasn't exactly trying to find buried treasure, at least not the kind with great monetary value, but rather the remains of his grandfather, a WWII veteran; two other men, however, thought he was cheating them out $2 million in antiquated Hawaiian bills that was part of the whole operation, and they killed him for it.
Much, much more intriguing during tonight's episode, though, were two callbacks: the Kono situation and the mystery surrounding McGarrett's late father.
Steve continues to obsess over the details of his dad's involvement with Wo Fat. Early on, he asks Joe to follow up with the Department of Defense and request a formal investigation, but at the end of the episode, we learn that Joe didn't follow through and that there is much more for Steve to consider before continuing on down that road (i.e. his name and his family's name). Kono, meanwhile, is still under not-so-distant surveillance by Chin -- but now she's becoming more combative, and after Chin finds out that she has crossed the line and hacked into Hawaii Police Department's computers to aid Frank (Billy Baldwin), it becomes clear that this is a situation that could really hurt Five-0 down the road and obviously become a major story line.
TOP FIVE MOMENTS FROM TONIGHT'S EPISODE
1. The opening sequence, in which a young girl in Waikiki Beach is startled by her little brother, who's swimming in a shark-fin hat. He goes off to claim his next victim, only to find a severed hand (ultimately belonging to the aforementioned Blake Spencer) floating with no owner of said appendage in sight.
2. The following quote from Danno (to McGarrett) regarding a whale on display at Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in O’ahu: "It’s amazing. I mean, one day you are the king of the ocean, right? Next thing you know, you are hanging from the ceiling of a museum, and little children are looking at your private parts."
3. The following quote, from Max, looking like a kid in a candy store: "Did you know that JPAC [Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam] is the largest forensics lab in the world? And that it specializes exclusively in postmortem identification? Which incidentally is my favorite type of identification." To which Joe replies: "You need a paper bag or something?"
4. When Max is taking photo at the crime scene, he snaps a close-up and finds an indentation of a ring on Julian’s head -- at which point Lori realizes (as do we) that the killer appeared on the show up to that point for no more than a cameo. Cue the "Dun-dun-dun!" music.
5. The climactic shootout between McGarrett/Lori and Jimmy Coler, which sees McGarrett seamlessly leap onto a boat from the dock -- a 50-foot drop he makes look easy.

S2E3: Tonight's episode of Hawaii Five-0 featured two completely different storylines -- one that only spanned the hour and another, involving Kono, that looks like it'll factor into the entire season, or at least the foreseeable future. First, the former ...
A Navy SEAL, Clay Garcia, is found dead in a tent, with initial reports ruling it a suicide. But Joe White, (recurring guest star Terry O-Quinn), a former SEAL trainer knows that couldn't be the case, so at McGarrett's request, Max reopens the case, quickly deeming the death a homicide.
So the investigation begins: Five-0's first order of business is to question Garcia's wife, who reveals that the couple had fallen out of love and that she was more or less having an affair with her restaurant boss -- who McGarrett pegs as an obvious suspect but who turns out not be involved.
It is then that McGarrett and Co. retrace Garcia's steps and more or less trip over the real story: Deep in the mountains, near where Garcia's body was discovered, they find a multimillion-dollar marijuana-growing operation complete with booby traps and hidden cameras. They realize that Garcia tripped up one of the traps and was caught by his captors and probably killed.
Only ... that's just part of what really happened! It isn't until another SEAL turns up dead -- under very similar cover-up circumstances, no less -- that the gang realizes someone has it out for the Navy SEALs, SEAL Team 9 in particular. Following some further investigation, Five-0-plus-Joe learns that a drug-cartel war is to blame, with one man, Hector Ruiz (aka the Chameleon), as the ringleader. They know to look for him, and where to look for him, but unfortunately he's about to take out another member of SEAL Team 9 -- in a skydiving mission. In the end, as is usually the case, the gang brings the bad guy to justice and save the good guy.
As for that aforementioned Kono story ...
Laid off from Five-0, bored and just flat-out suffering from feelings of low self-worth, Kono starts hanging out with the wrong crowd. Like, the really wrong crowd; we're talking traitorous. Towards the end of the episode, she takes a meeting with a onetime detective, Frank Delano (guest star Billy Baldwin), who was kicked off the force for corruption and who offers her a potential gig serving up advance intel on the Hawaii Police Department's whereabouts and plans. At least for now, it appears as though she accepts. Fortunately -- or unfortunately -- Kelly is following her every move. Stay tuned!
TOP FIVE MOMENTS FROM TONIGHT'S EPISODE
1. Max walks into Five-0 headquarters literally looking like Inspector Gadget, which McGarrett verbalizes -- to which Max replies, "Reopening a closed case without authorization is considered risky."
2. During the mountain sequence, in which the guys learn of the marijuana operation, Kelly steps over a tripwire, which almost causes a shotgun-shell booby trap to automatically activate, and it makes for a tense few moments -- with Joe and McGarrett trying to prevent it from going off and Kelly sweating bullets as he’s forced to stand still and wait to see if a chunk of his body will be blown off. (It won't be.)
3. Realizing they’re being watched, McGarrett, Joe and Kelly purposely draw the marijuana growers out from their bunkers and turn the tables on them, setting up booby traps of their own -- including yanking down an entire tree to block their camouflaged Jeep Wranglers!
4. This cool quote from the characteristically cool Baldwin (to Kono), seconds after his character is revealed: "I don’t trust cops who don’t drink -- especially ex-cops. So have a drink."
5. The climactic scene, in which a drugged SEAL is dropped from a plane -- only to be rescued by McGarrett and Co. Because they can skydive too!